The purpose of this article was to offer guidance to educators in evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, and most effective uses of commercial reading assessment suites. We provide three resources to help educators who are responsible for making instructional decisions in reading using formal screening, benchmark, interim, and progress-monitoring…

This study analyzes how second, third, and fourth graders in a racially integrated suburban school engaged in multimodal meaning making in the context of a book club discussing Ben Hatke's graphic novel "Zita the Spacegirl." Qualitative analysis of field notes and assessments indicated three overall findings: First, students responded to…

Interactive writing is an instructional practice widely considered effective and most appropriate for emergent writers. This article asserts that it is a valuable method for more fluent writers in grades 2-5. It outlines the basic lesson sequence and proposes four key shifts to adapt interactive writing for older, more fluent writers: 1) The…

The purpose of this article is to inform teachers about the ways technology can be integrated to add value to literacy instruction. Artistic technology-integrated literacy and disciplinary instruction in preK through grade 4 classrooms is described through the stories of five teachers who were identified as both strong teachers of literacy and…

As a part of Response to Intervention, for three years, ten reading interventionists provided supplemental support to readers. They formed a learning community, took an inquiry-based approach to assessment and developed a theory of what students needed to know and be able to do as readers. They addressed and learned from several other challenges:…

Transcript analysis is a way for teachers to engage in inquiry on their own practice. The insights of three teachers who engaged in transcript analysis of their own classroom discussions are described in this article. The teachers analyzed and reflected on their transcripts using a coding manual and a comparison and reflection guide. The coding…

Describes how the authors worked with five groups of second and fourth graders using picture books written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco in a project that involved reading Polacco's books aloud to the children, encouraging their aesthetic engagement with books, valuing children's questions, and culminating in a session in which children…